Robe: “the three villages”
Quapaw, Three Villages Robe, ca. 1740. Bibliothèque nationale de France-Musée du quai Branly – Jacques-Chirac.
Background
In the 1700s the area of land known today as Arkansas was inhabited by the clans of the Quapaw. This same land was also claimed by the French as part of the Louisiana colony. Like the French, the Quapaw were fairly recent arrivals to the area. They welcomed the opportunity to make an alliance with a partner who could provide superior weaponry to protect them from rival Indigenous communities. The French and Quapaw established a mutually beneficial relationship, but the Quapaw always maintained their sovereignty and cultural practices.
Quapaw clans were patriarchal, meaning that clan membership was tied to the father, not the mother. Even so, Quapaw women wielded far more influence in their communities than European women. Quapaw women produced all of the food that kept their communities fed. This earned them places in community councils and active roles in diplomacy with foreign powers. Some Quapaw women rose to the status of chief in their communities.
The United States government forcibly displaced the Quapaw from the Arkansas Valley in 1834. Today the Quapaw nation is based in northeastern Oklahoma.
About the Resource
This painted buffalo hide was made by Quapaw women. They tanned and stretched the skin and painted the beautiful images. The Quapaw used hides like these to decorate their homes. Quapaw painted hides were renowned throughout the Louisiana colony.
The hide measures 7½ x 5½ feet and has many fascinating details. The three Quapaw villages of Osotuoy, Tourima, and Kappa are drawn along the top edge. Above the villages there is a drawing of a Quapaw dance or ceremony featuring both men and women. The right edge shows a French fort that historians have identified as Arkansas Post. Along the bottom edge there is a depiction of Quapaw warriors defeating another Indigenous group in battle. In the center there is a sun and moon along with decorative calumets forming a V shape on the left.
Vocabulary
- calumet: A ceremonial pipe.
- hide: Animal skin.
- Louisiana: Founded in 1682, this colony was the second North American colony claimed by the French. The territory of the colony stretched from the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, between the Appalachian and Rocky Mountains.
- Quapaw: The Indigenous community that lived in the lands known today as Arkansas in the early 1700s. Today the Quapaw Nation is headquartered in Oklahoma.
- sovereignty: Self-government.
- tan: The process of turning animal skin into leather.
Discussion Questions
- What do the images on this painted hide reveal about the world of the Quapaw in the 1700s?
- Why do you think the artists included the French fort?
- How is an object like this made? What role did women play in the creation of Quapaw painted hides?
Suggested Activities
- Pair this resource with Western Indigenous Clothing and Navajo “Slave” Blanket to discuss how Indigenous artists express their experiences and identities using textiles.
- This work of art tells us a great deal about the world of the Quapaw in the 1700s. After analyzing this piece, invite students to brainstorm what they would include on a painted hide to capture the reality of life in their community today.
Themes
AMERICAN CULTURE; POWER AND POLITICS
The New York Historical Curriculum Library Connections
- For more resources relating to New Netherland and New York colonies, see New World—New Netherland—New York.
